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Sale named AL Pitcher of the Month for May

Sale named AL Pitcher of the Month for May

5/28/12: Chris Sale sets the Tropicana Field record by fanning a career-best 15 batters over 7 1/3 impressive innings of one-run ball

By Evan Drellich
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MLB.com |

A White Sox pitcher has again been named the American League's Pitcher of the Month. This time, it's left-hander Chris Sale.

The American League's leader on the season with a 2.34 ERA, Sale takes home his first monthly award after going 4-1 with a league-leading 1.71 ERA in May. Sale, a 23-year-old lefty, struck out 35 and walked just nine in 31 2/3 innings and five starts and six appearances. Jake Peavy was the award's April winner.

On May 28, Sale struck out a career-high 15 in 7 1/3 innings against the Rays at Tropicana Field, a game the White Sox won, 2-1. That was the most strikeouts for a White Sox pitcher since July 25, 1954, when Jack Harshman struck out a franchise-record 16 against the Red Sox. Sale is from Florida.

The last time an AL team won back-to-back Pitcher of the Month awards was in June-July 2009, when the Mariners' Jarrod Washburn and Felix Hernandez did it. No team's done it to start a season since the Red Sox in 1999, when Pedro Martinez won the April, May and June awards.

Evan Drellich is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @EvanDrellich. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.